Complexity to Clarity With an Expert Team: Implementation

Megan Baldwin brings curiosity and empathy to her role as a senior implementation project manager at ServiceChannel. An alum of Southern New Hampshire University, where she earned a Bachelor of Business Administration, management, and organizational leadership, Megan’s experience as a business coach — and her skills in business relationship management — have helped shape her ability to ask new customers all the right questions and home in on exactly what kind of support they need as they implement ServiceChannel seamlessly into their current operations. We sat down with Megan recently to get the lowdown on what implementation looks like and how she approaches it from start to finish — and beyond.

The First 60 Days of Implementation

Helping the Customer Prioritize

How does ServiceChannel cater to specific business needs without resorting to heavy customization?

ServiceChannel is able to cater to specific business needs and the unique requirements of our customers because our platform is extremely configurable — and we can configure the vast majority right in our user interface. So, when a customer comes to us with specific business rules or protocols that have to remain in place with ServiceChannel, we’re able to work through that with them and configure the platform to make sure that it fits for them.

And that kind of goes back to my role in implementation, which is to make sense of customers’ needs. When they’re telling us they need X to happen, they don’t know what that means in ServiceChannel — but fortunately, we do, and we use our industry experience and deep knowledge of ServiceChannel to put two and two together to make sure that ServiceChannel can fit their requirements.

That’s a huge benefit of ServiceChannel and what makes the platform so cool and unique — there’s no need for our customers to waste time and money and resources paying for customizations within the platform. And so, as we’re working with customers throughout the implementation process and helping to set some of this up for them, we’re also showing them how this process can be managed long-term — all our customers get access to the latest and greatest because our platform is truly built for everyone versus customization per client.

Ensuring Efficiency

What strategies are in place to ensure a successful transfer of knowledge?

There’s a lot of information coming at our customers in a short period of time during implementation, and so we work cross-functionally not only with our customer and the different team members on their end but also here at ServiceChannel. We’re bringing in different team members and departments that participate in many different elements of the implementation.

And so, what’s important in my role as a project manager guiding the client through this implementation process is to make sure that what we’re doing builds off of itself. Our customers often come in with a lot of questions, and they’re excited about getting started. And so trying to give them a lot of information and just kind of a brain dump on to them of everything that there is to know about ServiceChannel — all of the options they have and all the cool features that we offer — can be a lot.

We’ve developed a great, methodical approach to ensure that it’s building off of itself and that every week that goes by, the customer becomes more knowledgeable and more comfortable with everything that we’re discussing week over week.

The Training Process

Navigating Change Management

How does it make you feel when you’re able to help ServiceChannel customers?

It is very rewarding to be able to help our customers and see their vision come to life with our support. To me, that is the best part of implementation, that we get to act as this medium between the customer and ServiceChannel, and we get to make it make sense for the customer.

They often know what they want and need. They just don’t know how to get there. And so it’s really exciting and very rewarding to see it all click and come to life for our customers in a way that makes their day-to-day lives easier because, at the end of the day, that’s really what ServiceChannel is all about.

Onboarding Service Providers

Tell us about a recent success story with onboarding a service provider.

One story comes to mind where the customer had a key service provider that was relatively small and had never used ServiceChannel before. The provider was hesitant about getting on board with our platform — the customer had sent the provider some information ahead of time, but the provider almost saw that as a sales pitch and provided a little bit of pushback.

We were able to get the provider into one of our implementation meetings to discuss some of their concerns with us, and then right away, we got them in touch with the ServiceChannel onboarding team, which does such a great job walking our providers through the benefits of using ServiceChannel.

And so, after a little bit of handholding and some white-glove service, the service provider was able to get on board and became one of the number-one service providers that our customer ended up using long-term.

Immediate Results

How did you get to ServiceChannel and who mentored you on your way?

Prior to ServiceChannel, I worked in what would be probably considered more of the fitness industry, or fitness and technology. I had never worked in software, but I had a great leader prior to joining ServiceChannel that really forced me outside of my comfort zone constantly — especially when it came to special projects and project management, which is what ultimately led me to ServiceChannel.

I’ve had some great leaders in my career, including Erica Young, who has been a mentor for me here at ServiceChannel. I don’t think I would be as comfortable in my position or this role without not only her constant not only guidance but also the technical aspects of the job. I’m very fortunate and appreciative to have such great support in my career, and I think I’ve been incredibly lucky to have the leaders that have led me to where I am today.

What do you like most about working with Service Channel?

My favorite thing about working at ServiceChannel is how much I get to learn every day working with our customers. It’s not every day and it’s not every job where you get to work with customers from all different verticals and industries, from a gym to a grocery store, to a retail store, to storage facilities. I find it fascinating to learn what our customers do every day and how their businesses work, and then implement ServiceChannel in a way that works perfectly for them. I’ve learned so much from our customers over the couple of years I’ve worked at ServiceChannel.

What are your top three favorite things to do on a Saturday afternoon?

One of my favorite things to do on the weekend is woodworking. I’m an amateur DIYer, and you’ll often find me on a Saturday out in my garage trying to build or make something. I also have a dog, a Jack Russell and Australian Shepherd mix. I love to hang out with my dog, and we hit up the dog park most weekend days. I also like to go to the gym and just get outside and enjoy the great outdoors of southern New Hampshire.

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